Blessing of the Animals

Feast of St. Francis

October 1, 2017
4:00 p.m.

On Sunday, October 1 at 4:00 p.m., we will hold our annual Blessing of the Animals in honor of the Feast of St. Francis, whose statue looks over the patio portion of our memorial garden. St. Francis, the patron saint of animals, is said to have had a special affinity for animals; they seemed drawn to him. Someone once said that having a dog (I suppose we could say the same for cats and maybe other animals, too) is like having the Spirit of God, a piece of God, in our homes. Their unconditional love is said to mirror the egoless, selfless love that our Savior encouraged us to have toward one another. So, bring your dog, cat, fish, lizard, snake (*sigh*, if you must), and any of God's creatures, spiders probably excepted. We will have a short liturgy, immediately followed by a laying on of hands and blessing of your animal friend. If you have a large or sick animal that you cannot bring, let Fr. George know and he will come to you to give a blessing.